No. 5 Archbishop Curley tops No. 8 Broadneck, 2-1, in boys soccer

One of the biggest assets sophomore forward Tre Pulliam brings to Archbishop Curley's soccer team is his tough-to-match speed.

His ability to finish is another.

Both were on display in two important minutes of Saturday's game against Broadneck.

Pulliam scored a goal in each half, both times getting behind the Bruins' defense and finishing with precision to give the No. 5 Friars a 2-1 win over host and No. 8 Broadneck at the Bruins Soccer Mixer.

"Tre has very good speed," Curley coach Barry Stitz said. "He's very athletic, and he's a natural goal scorer, so he creates havoc. As long as he stays active, like tonight, he's very dangerous."

After the Bruins (0-1) tied the game at 1 on a goal from Nathan Saxon with 25 minutes left, Pulliam — who has scored five of the Friars' six goals this season — answered with 12 minutes remaining. He ran on to a through ball sent in by Kyle Mizell and finished from the left side for the game-winner.

In the 17th minute, Pulliam outran a defender to catch up with a long through ball, dribbled twice before neatly placing a left-footed shot from 14 yards to the far post. Curley (2-2) had more opportunities, but the Friars were unable to take advantage in a first half that ended with the same 1-0 lead.

Their best chance to pad the lead came two minutes after Pulliam's goal, when senior Eric Spalt was dragged down in the penalty area. But Kyle Mizell's free kick went over the goal to keep the score the same.

It enabled the Bruins to regroup and play a much stronger second half as they created more scoring opportunities and were finally able to break through on Saxon's goal. But Pulliam had the final say offensively, and the Friars defense was able to clamp down to seal the win.

Curley goalie Elton Schwartz (five saves) and Broadneck's Stephen Belt (six saves) both came up with timely stops in the game.

No. 1 McDonogh 2, No. 13 Perry Hall 0: In another game in the tournament, the Eagles got goals in each half and dominated possession most of the way to get past the Gators and improve to 2-0 on the season.

Sophomore Tunde Akinlosotu scored off a feed from Connor Smith to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead midway through the first half. Erumuse Momoh made it 2-0 with 25 minutes left in regulation, with an assist by Nick Brown.

"We were able to wear [Perry Hall] down with our possession, but we need to be able to score more goals from all the possession time," McDonogh coach Steve Nichols said.